Groton town manager allays fears of fiscal 2014 budget

GROTON -- Town officials appeared before the Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee to calm fears that a proposed budget for fiscal 2014 left no room for spending on education.

"Schools are a priority of mine," said Town Manager Mark Haddad in opposition to concerns raised by an editorial in the Groton Herald that warned residents the town's budget for next year would be laying a "trap" for taxpayers.

"At no time did we take all available funds to pay for a new fire station," said Haddad.

The charge that Haddad's proposed municipal budget for fiscal 2014 would leave nothing extra for schools due to plans to build a new Center Fire Station was raised in the Herald, which went on to say that residents would be left with the prospect of having to pass a "general override" that would raise taxes permanently in order to pay for increasing school expenses.

"Here is where the trap is laid," stated the editorial by the Groton Herald. "Proposed funding for the fire station is to be accomplished by using all of the funding capacity under the levy limit. If the schools need substantial additional funding and no more taxing capacity remains under the prop 2 1/2 levy limit, the only way to raise additional funds will be through a vote to override."

According to Board of Selectmen Chairman Stuart Schulman, who was at the School Committee's meeting Wednesday, residents had begun questioning the newspaper's position, forcing Haddad to meet with school officials to explain the situation.

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Appearing before the School Committee, Haddad walked through his proposed town budget for fiscal 2014, stressing that not only would taxes not rise as a result of paying for the new fire station, but that when all was said and done, the budget would still fall short of reaching the town's levy limit by about $500,000.

As in past years, Haddad said his budget sets aside the 2 percent increase in tax collection allowed by law for use by the Groton-Dunstable and Nashoba Valley Tech schools.

"So when that editorial said that we were using every available dollar to finance the fire station, it was wrong," concluded Haddad. "At not time did we take all available funds to pay for the fire station."

Speaking of a multi-year forecast showing town spending going into the future, Haddad told School Committee members he stood by them.

"We're pretty comfortable with these projections," said Haddad.

Still, school officials were leery about funding being available for expenses that might go beyond a level serviced budget of their own. A recent push to improve technology in the schools is expected to cost money not accounted for in the district's current budget.

"Groton will work with you to find those dollars," said Haddad, noting however that the town would be constrained in what it could do by what Dunstable was willing to pitch in. "But there's a lot of things we can do."

What Groton is not doing, concluded Haddad, is building a new fire station "on the back" of the school district.

"A flat budget is not sustainable," said School Committee member Jon Sjoberg, adding that the schools would need more money someday.

"It's a bit confusing," said member James Frey. "I for one am satisfied that the way you're going will not impact the schools. There's no danger here to school funding."

But the subject of adequate funding for the district in a time of continuing fiscal hardship prompted member John Giger to revisit the question of creating a stabilization fund for the district that could help prevent the need for unpopular overrides.

It was a question that officials on both sides of the table expected to discuss further in upcoming meetings aimed specifically at the fiscal 2014 school budget.

Also Wednesday, the School Committee:

* Voted to approve a field trip for the high school's band and chorus to Philadelphia, Penn., and Hershey Park and to compete with other schools. The trip is expected to include over 100 students as well as chaperones who will depart Groton on May 2 and return May 5.

* Were given a briefing by Accountability Director Kerry Clery on how the superintendent's evaluation would be conducted. According to Clery, the evaluation would follow the same lines set down for teachers involving multiple steps, including personal goal setting, review on how those goals had been implemented, collection of evidence that implementation had been set in motion, and assessment on overall performance and outcomes. Clery then invited committee members to participate in a workshop to familiarize themselves with the process.

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